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It's all about God

It's not all about us

On the whole, people everywhere live as if

life is all about them. It's about their hopes,

their dreams, their comfort, their well-being.

This is generally true for the believer and

unbeliever alike. This is confirmed by the fact

that almost all, if not all of the thinking, is

concerned with self. And even if God is

considered, it is only as some remote religious

practices. God is for most people so remote

from their presence that He can only be

understood as some distant ideal far removed

from the reality of the world.

This natural way of man is getting what he

wants from the world, so he has no real

interest in the God who created all things and

needs to be worshipped.

However, when we become Christians, we are

to come out of the world and preoccupation

with getting the comfort of things. So we live

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by faith in God, trusting in Him for our needs

on earth while we live life according to His

life in the Spirit.

Unfortunately many who claim Christ as

saviour often have not broken their attachment

to the world, so their interest in the world

remains and their interest in God is minimal,

more often than not it is to get God to get

them what they desire in the world.

When they want stuff from the world they ask

God to get it for them. When they get sick

they turn to God to make them well again.

When trials and tribulation come along, they

ask God to deal with it so they don't have to

suffer. It's all about them.

This highlights the problem for man in that his

chief concern is to be comfortable in the

world, rather than having daily communion in

the presence of God who created all things in

the first place.

How much do we know about our God?

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God is light. James 1:17

God is spirit, He is invisible John 1:18; 4:24

God is our Creator. Gen 1:1; Gen 1:27

God is eternal, immortal. 1 Tim1:17

God is unchanging. Mal 3:6

God is incomparable. Psalm 86:8

God is mysterious; unfathomable. Psalm 145:3

God is just; showing no favouritism. Deut 32:4

God can do anything. Jer 32:17

God is present everywhere. Psalm 139:7-13

God knows all things. Psalm 139:13-16

God is one; there is no other god. Deut 6:4

God will not ignore wrongdoing. Rom 3:21-26

God is sovereign, nothing can stop Him. Psalm

93:1; Jer 23:20

God is a Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit. 2 Cor 13:14

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God is truth, fixed in honesty. Psm 117:2

God is holy and separated from all sin. Isa 6:3

God is a consuming fire in judgment. Habakkuk 1:13

God is gracious, in goodness, kindness,

mercy, and love. Exodus 34:6

God desires to know each of us personally. Psalm 31:19; John 17:3

God desire we seek Him as our God. Jer 29:13

If we claim to know these things, does our life

give good witness to the truth or are we still

living according to the ways of men? Isn't

God in the best possible position to decide

what the best is for us in any situation?

Jesus came to change the old way of thinking

about God for those who will believe in Him,

but a detailed examination of the lives of

many Christians would indicate the old

mindset continues as before. Even the most

religious person can still think of God as a

distant relative they have never met.

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Many Christians talk about having a

relationship with God, but when the pressure

is really on, when there is severe testing of

faith, the response often reveals a level of

anxiety that has got to mean God is absent

from their deepest thinking. Knowledge of the

reality of God is not the same thing as

experiencing that reality of God.

God puts us to the test

All training in every sphere of life is about

receiving knowledge and then being able to

put it into practice. Therefore when the

knowledge has been given, there is an

examination to prove that something has

actually been learnt.

The examination of Christian faith, that is, the

knowledge of God, is done in the world of

hard knocks. Christian testing takes place in

the darkness of the world that does not know

God. The proving of our faith to be genuine

can only occur if the believer doesn't fall apart

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but stands firm, trusting God without anxiety

derailing their peace in His presence.

However, many have the strange idea that

God is something like the tooth fairy, painless

extraction with miraculous rewards. Many

think that all we need to do is attend class and

listen to the teacher and graduate with

honours.

However, being competent and having the

ability to do what is taught takes some

determined effort. It requires the believer to

become an overcomer. He must not only

know what is taught, but he must overcome

his connection to the world, and also be able

to resist the pressure to conform to the world's

values.

When it comes to the things of faith, we have

the added incentive that what we need to learn

is required to save our lives. This is because

we are at war with the evil powers of darkness

who want to destroy our souls as believers in

Christ. Christian education is for the

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protection of our faith so we survive spiritual

attack. God provides abundantly for our

training as soldiers of the cross, but we have

to listen to the instructions given or we will be

nothing more than cannon fodder.

Like the people in the church at Sardis, we

may think we are alive, but we may already be

dead. Knowledge that makes no difference to

living the life of faith is of no value. And if

the Lord doesn't send us a letter, we won't

know we have failed the test until the final

reckoning.

Jesus was very concerned for the welfare of

His people so He sent letters to seven

churches in Asia. The letters in most part

recognise the struggle for faith that is going

on, and He gives a warning of the seriousness

of the battle to come. The Lord makes it very

clear that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the

beginning and end of all things. He has the

keys of Hades and He will judge all who do

not have their names written in the book of

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life, who have instead received the brand of

the world forces of darkness because they

seek what they want from the world. He

declares the victory is already His, but there is

a need for diligence and perseverance under

persecution until He returns.

We may begin our life as creatures of the

world. And the natural way of the man of the

world is to make life comfortable. All our

effort is to get as much from the world as we

can. However, the new life the spirit God

gives to us means we are to live for spiritual

realities. The kingdom of God and the ways of

God are to be our main concern. The spiritual

life is a life that looks to God because He is

God, the God who is to be worshipped in all

we say and do. Col 3:23 Eph 6:7

God is all we need

For the devoted believer there is only God,

nothing else can take His place. If God isn't

all we want and need, we have missed the

point of being reconciled to God by the blood

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of the cross of Jesus Christ. Everything that

exists in our lives must come after God. The

way we live in His presence can only have

meaning when He is God to us and not our

personal servant to do our bidding. Regardless

of what we say, God will decide what's best.

Jesus came to reveal the truth about God as

Father. Jesus taught us that God is our Father

who desires that we know Him intimately.

(John 17:3) Jesus teaches us that our Father

wanted us to know Him so much that He sent

His Son to die on a cross for our sins so we

could be forgiven and be reborn in His image

by the power of the Spirit. He wants us to live

in His presence, trusting Him for all things in

all things. Jesus said "Abide in Me, and I in

you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself

unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you

unless you abide in Me." John 15:4

To abide in Christ we must be bound

intimately to His life, we must be dependent

on His life force flowing through us. And this

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can only be possible when He is all we need,

for He is our God almighty, the beginning and

the end.

Jesus taught about the Father. The Father

wants us to be His sons. (Matt. 5:45) The Father

will take care of us. (Matt. 6:8, 26-32) And we

should respond to others as our Father has

treated us. (Matt 5:44) The Father loves the Son

and gave Him all authority. (Matt 11:25-27) And

we can share in this relationship when we

look to God as our Father. For this end, the

Father sends His Spirit to us so we can live

with Him. John 14:26

Disciples walk as He walked

When Jesus told the disciples they were to do

His work in the world, (John 14:12) He also told

them it would be no holiday. They would face

opposition as He did. They would not live

comfortable lives, but face persecution and

even death. “If the world hates you, you know

that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you

were of the world, the world would love its

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own; but because you are not of the world, but

I chose you out of the world, because of this

the world hates you. Remember the word that

I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his

master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also

persecute you; if they kept My word, they will

keep yours also. (John 15:18-20) "You will be

hated by all because of My name, but it is the

one who has endured to the end who will be

saved." Matt 10:22

In order to live that life of trials as faithful

disciples, they would need God as the first

thing in their life. Jesus even prayed to the

Father that the disciples would know their

lives were one life with the Father and the

Son. John 17:6-26

These things are written for us to understand

that we have to follow the same example in all

things.

After Pentecost and the outpouring of the

Holy Spirit, the Apostles knew what it meant

to walk with God so that God was first in all

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things. Jesus had promised that the Spirit of

God would teach them all things. John 14:26-31

We are to walk as Jesus walked

We are to walk as Jesus walked, (1 John 2:6)

and we are told in order to do that, we need to

have the attitude that was in Christ. 'Have this

attitude in yourselves which was also in

Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the

form of God, did not regard equality with God

a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself,

taking the form of a bond-servant, and being

made in the likeness of men. Being found in

appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by

becoming obedient to the point of death, even

death on a cross.' Phil 2:5-8

And there was never a time when Jesus

walked amongst men that He didn't know that

God was the God of all. Because of this, Jesus

walked before God as His beloved Son. He

spoke with God as His Father. He bowed

down to the Father's will and laid down his

life so we might live with God. Luke 22:42

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Jesus didn't seek a comfortable life; He only

sought to be about the Father's business. He

even saw doing the Father's work as more

important to Him than the bread we eat.

Doing the Father's work was His bread. “My

food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and

to accomplish His work." John 4:34

For Jesus it was all about God being God.

God was first in His life and would always be

first.

Walking with God is being led by the Spirit

In order to walk closely with God, as His

children we must not only see God's

providence working around us, we must also

take note of the moving of His blessed Spirit

within our hearts. 'For all who are being led

by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.' Rom 8:14

Walking with God means having daily

communion and fellowship with God; this is

keeping close to the Holy Spirit who is

dwelling in us. This is what our Lord

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promised when he told His disciples that “the

Holy Spirit would be in and with them.” The

Spirit would dwell in their hearts.

The Spirit would teach and lead them into all

righteousness, so listening to the Spirit and

obeying His leading would mean they would

survive the attack of the powers of darkness.

'And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the

sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

With all prayer and petition pray at all times

in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the

alert with all perseverance and petition for all

the saints.' Eph 6:17-18

Trusting God first, obeying God first, doing

God's work first. Living the Christ life first in

all things; and always putting the Spirit of

God first in all things. Regardless of whether

we are safe or suffering, we need to have God

first.

Walking with God removes all anxiety

The quality of our lives in the world is of

small concern when we have God first,

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because He works for our good all the time.

With God first and foremost in our thinking,

we can indeed be anxious for nothing. When

we have God first we can give thanks in all

things.

When the calamity of the fallen world cause

us suffering, whether by natural disasters, or

by the actions of men, or physical illness, or

economic hardships, or political or religious

persecution, God is all we need. If we

persevere in the faith, looking only to God, He

will keep us in perfect peace though we walk

through the valley of the shadow of death. Psalm 23

The quality of our lives before God who is

always first depends on how much we have

been able to separate ourselves from the world

and the ways of men who don't know God as

God. Our ability to give thanks in all things

depends on our faithfulness to God who is

first in our hearts and minds. We need to be

like the disciples who were thrown into prison

and beaten; and they rejoiced and sang praise

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to God because God was first, not their safety

or comfort. Acts 5:40-41

It's all about God

The big picture about God's peace in our lives

is that it's not about this physical life, it's all

about having God and God is Spirit. So God

has made it possible for us to be born of the

Spirit. It's not about us possessing God, but

about God possessing us when we know the

Almighty Heavenly Father is judge of all men.

It's all about His kingdom way of life. It's

about us walking in the spirit in His presence.

It means our attention should be on God and

how He wants us to live as His spiritual

children of light in the world which has been

corrupted by sin.

As God's chosen children, we live in a fallen

world that does not honour God, and we

experience all the tragedies of the world along

with everyone else, saints, and sinners suffer

together. But our lives as children of light

should demonstrate that even in trials and

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tribulation we live by faith in God, even in the

worst of conditions known to man. Our lives

should show we have God now living in us so

we don't despair for our life on earth, no

matter how bad things might become.

The Christian life is not about the quality of

our lives here on earth, but about the quality

of our relationship with God as we walk

before Him as those who know they are

always with God.

The letters to the seven churches in

Revelation Chapters two and three should

remind us that comfort in the world of man

and the acceptance of people who don't know

God will lead us to experience eternal

judgement. But a willingness to suffer the

disapproval of men as a result of standing up

for the truth of God in the world will mean

blessing and honour in heaven in the presence

of God. Without genuine faith that will

withstand persecution at the hands of men, we

cannot please God.

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There are only two ways to live. We either

live under Satan's dominion according to the

world or we live under the dominion of

Christ. To live for earthly experiences

motivated by the world's attitudes to life is to

side with the dragon that has dominion on

earth, this is called living in the city of man,

also known as the great Babylon in the book

of Revelation.

But to live for God by faith in Christ as Lord

and saviour, means to live for the heavenly

City, the City of God. Living for God is to

live for the one who has ultimate authority

over all things in heaven and on earth, Satan

included. Aligning ourselves with the world

of human experience means we will pass

away in the world according to Satan's

darkness. If we choose to live in the world we

have no part in heavenly things. We were

made from the dust of the world created by

God and we will return to the world as dust.

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If we align ourselves with God and live for

heavenly things according to the Spirit we

will always remain with God, and go to be

with Him in heaven.

Do you have God?

When unsettling trials arrive, when sickness

comes, when opposition to faith blocks our

way, when unjust treatment is forced on us,

we need to understand trials and suffering will

increase in these last days. Then we need to

remember it is only God who can uphold us.

God will never leave us.

So, do you have God? If you do, it is all His

doing. For by the work of His Son, by the

receiving of faith through obedience after

repentance, with the filling of His Spirit, we

are born again in His image and likeness, so

that we now walk according to the Spirit,

having died to life in the flesh and the world,

with the result that we do the work of God, by

walking as Jesus walked. The love of God is

with us.

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If we have God, then we have all we need. We

have His kingdom life. We have His revealing

light. We have His spiritual enabling. We

have His intimate presence. We have all His

magnificent promises. We have His

redeeming purpose. We have His supportive

ministry for one another. And we have each

other as the body of Christ to build up one

another to the glory of God. God works for

our good.

Therefore we have His peace wherever we are

and in whatever situation His Providence

places us. In good times or bad, God causes

all things to work together for our good as He

transforms us into the fullness of the image of

His Son. (Rom 8:28-29) In fact, nothing the

world can throw at us can separate us from

God's love, except if we give our full attention

to the world and negative experiences.

Give thanks to God in all things for He cares

for you. It is only when we allow God to be

God that we can have peace on earth.

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'Rejoice always; pray without ceasing;

in

everything give thanks; for this is God’s will

for you in Christ Jesus.' 1 Thess 5:16-18

The bible calls on us to pray to God without

ceasing. How is this done effectively if we

only see God as an absent landlord? No

wonder many who claim Christ often grumble

at the way things have turned out in their

lives. Grumbling shows we have placed

ourselves first. Absent landlords cannot be,

and are not the God and Father of Jesus Christ

who taught us to put God first.

Abiding in Him, means to live in His presence

as our God. It is to be God alone, not God and

us who get Him to do our bidding.

When God is really our God without question

or hesitation, we will know the meaning of

Paul's challenge to the church at Philippi. 'So

then, my beloved, just as you have always

obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now

much more in my absence, work out your

salvation with fear and trembling; for it is

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God who is at work in you, both to will and to

work for His good pleasure. Do all things

without grumbling or disputing; so that you

will prove yourselves to be blameless and

innocent, children of God above reproach in

the midst of a crooked and perverse

generation, among whom you appear as lights

in the world.' Phil 2:12-15

God's promise: 'You keep him in perfect peace

whose mind is stayed on you, because he

trusts in you.' Isaiah 26:3

When we accept that God will work in us and

through us according to His sovereign will,

we can relax and get on with being the

children He desires as light of the world.

Be happy with our God who knows all things,

and wants the very best for all His children.

Be happy with God who upholds you through

all things in your life. Be happy with God who

is using your walk to mould you into His

likeness. Be happy with God in control and

His contentment will complete your days.

Living Water Resources

Come to the River

'You will say to me then, “Why does He still

find fault? For who resists His will?” On the

contrary, who are you, O man, who answers

back to God? The thing moulded will not say

to the moulder, “Why did you make me like

this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a

right over the clay, to make from the same

lump one vessel for honourable use and

another for common use?' Rom 9:19-21

Compiled by

Robert C May

Copyright © 2018

cometotheriver@optusnet.com.au